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Does putting on weight affect your mental health?

quirkywords
Community Champion
Community Champion

I have been watching a program on sbs about What does Australia really think about obesity.?

I was very moved that people who are overweight experience more mental health issues and depression that people who are not overweight.

The program informed us that overweight people get negative comments every day and are subject to fat shaming when ever they go out in public.

I wonder if you have ever experienced fat shaming or heard Brooke being shamed because of their weight.

I worry that someone’s weight may be causing mental illness not due to the weight but how other people judge them.

For much of my life I was over weight. In my first workplace my female colleagues told me I could get a boyfriend if only I lost weight and dressed better wore make up .

I was told my thighs were too big to wear shorts. I have been called fat and lazy and complete strangers have given me advice.

If you feel you can share how your weight makes you feel and any experience when you were shamed and judged for your weight. I am really interested to find out more about how mental health is affected by being overweight.

14 Replies 14

Tony and everyone

We all know men and women who carry themselves so confidently so we don’t notice their weight. I know that letting others make us feel unattractive is not good for our mental health.

Hello
I wonder if anyone felt depressed after putting on weight when taking medication.

I put on weight when on first went on a mood stabiliser and was upset so I ate more and put on more weight.

I know people who go off medication because of large weight gains.

I decided that being a bit overweight and stable was better than being slim and unstable.

hi quirky

i dont take medication but believe many ppl struggle with this, many ppl have shared with me their concerns about weight gain from meds.

i had meds which made me lose weight, as i was throwing up a lot from them.... it was confronting probably too

i think the hunger experiencd from some meds can be distressing and confusing

its nice to feel like we rae the weight we are used to and feel good in, changes can be very ditressing to our MH, imo.

Hello Quirky,

I missed this thread earlier... I do think our weight can affect our mental health... & vice versa.

Since going on my meds my weight has ballooned... not helped by my lack of interest in cooking healthy when my mood is low... along with comfort eating

I'm still surprised by how judgemental some people can be... especially when complete strangers seem to think my being obese gives them some right to chastise me for being so... I think that as I have always had negative comments about how I look even as a child & when I was slim... early on I reached a point where I realised their comments say more about them than me... I must admit I usually reply with critiquing the lack of originality of their comment... I don't care about the opinions of idiots... if people judge me on my looks, then they are people I don't want in my life.

Paws

 

The main mental health impact for me is how my weight affects my ability to do the things I want/need to do... add that to the other health issues I have & I find that feeds into my depression very easily... then I comfort eat & that just adds to the problem... 

 

Paws

thanks for your reply and sharing your experience, How awful that strangers cab be so judgemental. I put on a lot of weight with medication 3O years ago. Then lost sone of it over 20 years. 
Fir me if o feel good about myself I don’t eat as much an exercise but if people tell me don’t eat that, do t have another piece of cake I will put on more.

To be honest , zI am more judgmental of myself than anyone else and I try to change that.